{"id":126837,"date":"2026-06-02T08:47:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=126837"},"modified":"2026-06-02T08:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T03:47:20","slug":"budget-2026-27-farmers-look-to-budget-with-growing-fears-fading-hopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126837\/","title":{"rendered":"BUDGET 2026-27: Farmers look to budget with growing fears, fading hopes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- PAKISTAN\u2019S farmers are awaiting the next\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2004248\">budget<\/a>\u00a0with growing fears and fading hopes. Their concerns this year are fundamental, as the government \u2014 amid pressure for reform \u2014 continues experimenting with subsidies, procurement prices, input-cost liberalisation and agricultural trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The cost of this trial-and-error has become an existential problem for farmers and the agricultural sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agriculture sector\u2019s fading hopes are a direct result of the government\u2019s inability \u2014 or unwillingness \u2014 to adopt a long-term policy direction and muster the political will needed for its implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Deregulation of agricultural inputs has led to a continuous rise in production costs, which the government hesitates to pass on to consumers because of political consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consequently, farmers and agri-sector experts alike agree the government should make a clear decision this year, develop a consistent policy framework, and commit resources to it in the coming budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iqrar Ahmad Khan, former vice chancellor of the University of Agriculture Faisalabad and author of the Punjab government\u2019s last agricultural policy, supports the farmers\u2019 demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter all, this is going to be the third budget of this government; it must decide where it wants to take the sector. If it wants to regulate agricultural inputs and trade, it should do so clearly. If it plans to deregulate, it must do so unambiguously. But it must make the direction clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf deregulation is the preferred path, as appears to be the case, then the government should stop interfering in the market on behalf of different stakeholders \u2014 whether farmers, consumers, traders or manufacturers \u2014 at different levels and times, and let the market find its own equilibrium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Citing policy somersaults on wheat \u2014 the national staple around which much of the agricultural economy revolves \u2014 farmers explain how an inconsistent mix of liberalised and controlled policies is proving ruinous for growers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Responding to lenders\u2019 demands, the federal and provincial governments withdrew from the wheat procurement process two years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But after a crippling price crash last year, the Punjab government lured commercial wheat buyers into the market by promising to share their financial burden and ensure profitability. Within weeks, as the entire model began to collapse, the province reverted to old tactics: raiding farmers\u2019 stocks, seizing wheat shipments on roads and using administrative power to build up the reserves of private buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the process, it incurred farmers\u2019 wrath twice over \u2014 first by withdrawing from the wheat market and then by seizing their produce to rescue a failing liberalisation model. Such somersaults have become routine and now define the government\u2019s handling of the entire agricultural sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Structural weaknesses<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond pricing and procurement issues, many believe the crisis in agriculture is also rooted in structural weaknesses that successive governments have failed to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr Asif Ali, vice chancellor of Nawaz Sharif Agriculture University, argues that since landholdings in Pakistan are already highly fragmented \u2014 and continue to be divided with each passing generation \u2014 the government needs to mitigate the effects through cluster farming and crop zoning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These clusters could then be linked with providers of quality agricultural inputs, including seed, fertiliser and pesticides, which could also conduct training programmes for farmers. Such a model would help improve the marketing of agricultural produce as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He further points out that nearly 65pc of farmers own less than five hectares of land. For such small landholders, most forms of mechanisation are either financially unaffordable or commercially impractical. He suggests the government announce measures in the budget to establish farm machinery rental centres, enabling small farmers to access equipment without bearing the full cost of ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A question of survival<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While some experts focus on structural reforms, farmers\u2019 representatives insist the most immediate issue remains economic survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Khalid Khokhar of the Pakistan Kissan Ittehad advocates making agriculture profitable on an urgent basis, arguing that it is no longer economically viable. He suggests the creation of a pricing commission to calculate the cost of production for each crop every year, add a 25pc profit margin and announce the price before the crop reaches the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEither put a cap on the cost of inputs or remove the cap on the price of outputs,\u201d he warns. \u201cOtherwise, farmers may soon be pushed out of business and existence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Running dry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Water sector remains the most critical challenge facing agriculture. According to data from the Indus River System Authority, water shortages remained in double digits in six of the last 10 years, touching nearly 30pc in 2022-23. Not a single year during this period was free of a water deficit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Naeem Hotiana, a farmer from central Punjab, points to a stark funding gap: the outgoing Wapda chairman demanded Rs400 billion annually to complete ongoing water projects but received only Rs35 billion \u2014 less than 10pc of the required amount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe irrigation system was originally designed for 65pc land utilisation, whereas the current cropping intensity in Punjab has already crossed 150pc. Now combine the realities of limited surface-water availability, shrinking groundwater reserves and barely one-tenth of the required investment being provided, and imagine the situation that is emerging. Doesn\u2019t it scare one out of one\u2019s senses?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He warns the situation will worsen as environmental pressures mount. \u201cClimate change, which is already testing the limits of existing water supplies, only deepens the anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- PAKISTAN\u2019S farmers are awaiting the next\u00a0budget\u00a0with growing fears and fading hopes. Their concerns this year are fundamental, as the government \u2014 amid pressure for reform \u2014 continues experimenting with subsidies, procurement prices, input-cost liberalisation and agricultural trade. The cost of this trial-and-error has become an existential problem for farmers and the agricultural [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BUDGET 2026-27: Farmers look to budget with growing fears, fading hopes - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126837\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BUDGET 2026-27: Farmers look to budget with growing fears, fading hopes - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- PAKISTAN\u2019S farmers are awaiting the next\u00a0budget\u00a0with growing fears and fading hopes. Their concerns this year are fundamental, as the government \u2014 amid pressure for reform \u2014 continues experimenting with subsidies, procurement prices, input-cost liberalisation and agricultural trade. 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